Yuan Shikai (1914) to the victory of the Chinese Nationalists’ (Kuomintang or
KMT) northern expedition (1928), a vacuum of power at the central
government level, foreign penetration, and continuous infightings in the
provinces and local levels created extreme political confusion. After the
victory of the northern expedition, the Nanjing government, led by Chiang
Kai-shek, began the ‘golden decade’ of national development in China
(1929–38). The KMT government used industrial construction as the major
instrument to boost national development while preparing for war against the
upcoming invasion from Japan.
In the Republican period as a whole, the economy grew by an average
rate of 5.5 percent annually.^24 Foreign capital in Manchuria (under
colonization by Japan), north China, Shanghai and other treaty ports
stimulated consumer goods industries, with an especially rapid growth of
the textile industry. Transportation and communication arteries bourgeoned,
along with a domestic steel industry. Although China remained an agricul-
tural country, the percentage contribution of agriculture to gross domestic
product (GDP) declined from 60 to 50 percent by the end of the Civil
War.^25
These developments took their toll on the environment, but KMT leaders
also gave some attention to controlling floods and renovating and improving
irrigation systems.^26 The KMT government faced multiple challenges to
effective governance. These challenges included the communist rebellion,
Japanese invasion, and the extreme need to alleviate poverty. The outbreak of
the war of resistance against Japan in 1938 and the subsequent Chinese civil
war from 1946 to 1949 destroyed the economy as well as further weakened the
ecology of mainland China.
MAO’S CHINA
In the first three decades of the People’s Republic of China, party chair Mao
Zedong wrote most of the script. Mao’s style of governance in China
emphasized four components; mass line and mass movements, class struggle
and continuous revolution, superiority of ‘red’ (ideologically correct) over
‘expert’ and the cult of personality.
- Mass line and mass movement Mao developed the strategy of the mass
line as the major instrument to struggle with the KMT during the civil war. The
mass line continued in post-1949 China as reflected in large-scale movements
such as the Great Leap Forward, the Anti-Rightist campaign, and the Cultural
Revolution. From Mao’s perspective, the mass line was essential to mobilize
support from the general population and to keep communist ideology pure.
Historical patterns 25